John Henry EATON

(1790-1856)

Senate Years of Service:

1818-1821; 1821-1829

Party:

Democratic Republican;
Jackson Republican; Jacksonian

EATON, John Henry, a
Senator from Tennessee; born near Scotland Neck, Halifax County,
N.C., June 18, 1790; attended the common schools and the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1803 and 1804; studied law;
admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Franklin, Tenn.;
member, State house of representatives 1815-1816; appointed in 1818
and subsequently elected as a Democratic Republican to the United
States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of
George W. Campbell and served from September 5, 1818, to March 3,
1821; elected as a Jackson Republican to the Senate in September
1821, and as a Jacksonian in 1826 and served from September 27,
1821, until March 9, 1829, when he resigned to accept a Cabinet
position; chairman, Committee on District of Columbia (Twentieth
Congress); appointed Secretary of War by President Andrew Jackson
and served from 1829 to 1831, when he resigned; Governor, Territory
of Florida 1834-1836; Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary to Spain 1836-1840; died in Washington, D.C.,
November 17, 1856; interment in Oak Hill Cemetery.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Eaton, John Henry. The
Life of Andrew Jackson. 1817. Reprint. University, AL:
University of Alabama Press, 1974; Lawrence, Frank, ed. The Life
of Andrew Jackson, John Reid, and John Eaton. University, AL:
University of Alabama Press, 1974.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present